The tugs Resolve Pioneer and Dabhol tow and steer the Carnival Triumph cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico today.Photo: REUTERS

The Carnival Triumph cruise ship yesterday. (REUTERS)

A disabled cruise ship — hell on water — won’t reach land until port until Thursday, as tug boats inch along at a lawnmower’s speed.

A second tug boat reached the Carnival Triumph, which was 270 miles south of Mobile, Ala., this morning to help its painfully slow crawl back toward civilization, Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm said.

The ship left Galveston, Texas, Thursday on a scheduled four-day cruise with 3,143 passengers and a crew of 1,086 aboard. But an engine room fire on Sunday knocked out all power and crippled its water and plumbing systems.

It was about 150 miles off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula when the vacation-ruining fire broke out.

Now a pair of tugboats are pulling the floating bio-hazard at non-breakneck speeds of 6 knots — or 6.9 mph, a few steps faster than a riding lawnmower, according to CNN.

Passengers have limited access to bathrooms, food and hot coffee, but some described miserable conditions aboard the ship.

“There’s water and feces all over the floor,” said Brent Nutt, who was able to chat briefly with his wife, passenger Bethany, on her cell phone.

“It’s not the best conditions. You would think Carnival would have something in place to get these people off the ship.”

Passengers also are getting sick and throwing up, according to Nutt, adding that his wife told him: “The whole boat stinks extremely bad.”

A similar situation occurred on a Carnival cruise ship in November 2010. That vessel was also stranded for three days with 4,500 people aboard after a fire in the engine room.

When the passengers disembarked in San Diego they described a nightmarish three days in the Pacific with limited food, power and bathroom access.

Carnival said in a statement that it had cancelled the Triumph’s next two voyages.

Passengers aboard the stranded ship will also receive a full refund, Carnival said.